Glasgow Necropolis – Link – is at the right-hand (eastern) end of the bridge, and the Cathedral Precinct at the other end (part of the Cathedral's steeple is visible at the upper left).

There was no Wishart Street here when the bridge was built; instead, the dam for the Sub-dean Mill (also written Subdean Mill) was located under the main arch. It was only later, when the mill and the rights pertaining to it had been purchased, that Wishart Street was created. The street runs along the former course of the Molendinar Burn (which had powered the mill); the historic burn itself is now culverted for almost all of its length (see NS6065 : Ladywell Street, Glasgow and NS6065 : The Molendinar Burn).

There was a Bishop Robert Wishart of Glasgow (c13-14), who is worthy of note, not least for the support he gave to William Wallace and Robert the Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence; the NS6065 : Tomb of Bishop Wishart is in nearby Glasgow Cathedral. However, it is possible that the street name refers, instead, to the reformer George Wishart, an associate of John Knox; there is a monument to Knox nearby: NS6065 : John Knox Monument on the Necropolis.

I have not come across any contemporary documentary evidence to settle the question one way or the other, but a reference to the latter Wishart would sit better with the religious views of those responsible for the various works carried out in this area (see, for example, NS6065 : Memorial to James Ewing of Strathleven).

Discussion on NS6065

NS6065 : GirlsNS6065 : InfantsThese red sandstone gateways once led into Townhead Primary School (now demolished and replaced by a council car park). The school stood on Rotten Row, just west of the former "Red Barony" Church, and the building was still there in 1964 at least.Presumably the move of people from central Glasgow to peripheral estates and new towns (aka "overspill"), plus the demolition of substandard tenements, led in turn to the closure and subsequent demolition of the Townhead School.